In my lecture series, “Lost that Lovin’ Feeling? Success Is All About Relationships,” I talk about how my practice implemented relationship-based systems that are simply powerful and powerfully simple to enhance our success.

In a previous “Daily Grind” post, I discussed the Pareto Principle, whereby it is my contention that 20% of our practice success is due to our clinical knowledge and skills and 80% is from everything else. I like to talk about that 80%.

Knowing that “mindset + systems + consistency = success,” I talk about how inexpensive systems done consistently and with the right attitude can transform our business for long-term success. One of those systems, if done consistently, is what I call “Moments of Magic,” which are 10 or more moments that change how our patients respond to us and become raving fans who pay their bills, show up for their appointments, schedule their next appointments, and refer their family members and friends (what I refer to as pay, stay, repeat and refer).

In this blog series, I will outline each one of those Moments of Magic. The tenth one is about post-treatment care calls.

We have had eight Moments of Magic for the new patient in our practice. From the time they first heard about us from one of our existing patients (the majority of all new patients are referrals from existing patients — or they should be) to them checking out our online reviews, website, social media and more. They were welcomed and thanked in the first phone call, given a pre-visit welcome phone call from the dentist, toured the office upon arrival, established a connection by utilizing the Golden 10, were engaged in a comprehensive codiagnosis so that they became true partners in their own health outcomes and then surprised with a handwritten thank-you card sent in the mail. I then added an extra moment of magic when you send a handwritten “thank you for the referral” card and mailed it to the person who referred your new patient.

There is one more Moment of Magic that I wish to discuss. It has nothing to do with the Moments of Magic for new patients and referral sources. Instead, these are Moments of Magic that are significant wows for your existing patient base that have them talking about you and your team without you asking. This has resulted in a lot of new patients coming to my office.

It’s all about post-care calls. Some advisers say you should call every person who gets a needle. Really? Who has time to make that many calls every day?

I recommend you call — later that evening or early the next day — any patient who has had significant invasive work (e.g., root canal treatment, extraction, sedation, implants placed or really long appointments that are three hours or longer). This might be two or three patients in any one day. All you have to do is call and say you are checking up to ensure they are OK and ask if they have any questions. Most of the time they will be shocked, surprised and very happy

for the care. Occasionally, there will be a complication, and you may need to call in some pain medications or antibiotics or plan for an emergency visit to the office the next day without waiting for the patient to call you. You pre-empt the patient by calling them first. They will love that.

This one item takes just moments, but it has resulted in patients telling everyone how their dentist called them at home to check up on them after an invasive procedure. Who does that consistently?

Regretfully, when it comes to customer service, customer experience and patient satisfaction, the bar is set so low that it does not take much to rise above our colleagues and peers to create a series of wow experiences that create loyal patients who pay, stay, repeat and refer. And you can do all of this without spending significant sums of money.

I hope this series has been of real benefit. Let me know if you have any questions or desire to dig deeper into any of these subjects.